30-star U.S. Flag commemorating Wisconsin Statehood, May 28, 1848.
This 30-star United States flag came into official existence on July 4th, 1848 when, in accordance with the Flag Act of 1818, Wisconsin's admission to the Union was recognized in the country's flag. The 30-star U.S. flag, however, would have a relatively short official existence. As a consequence of the discovery of gold in California, a rush of emigrants ventured to that territory between 1848 and 1850. So many settled in California that the territory was soon able to apply for and attain statehood, which occurred on September 9th, 1850. Accordingly the U.S. flag grew to 31 stars, effective on July 4th, 1851.

The adoption of the 31-star U.S. flag did not force the obsolescence of the 30-star flag, as many who had owned the 30-star saw little need to acquire another. Indeed, an English observer looking out over New York Harbor in 1857 commented: The majority of the ships had the stars arranged in five horizontal rows of six stars each, making thirty stars in all, despite thirty-one being the proper number of stars on the date. For ship owners, frugality took precedence over propriety.

The 30 stars in the canton of this large U.S. flag are displayed in five horizontal rows, of six stars each. Wool bunting field and canton with cotton stars, all hand sewn. Size: 108" on the hoist by 202" on the fly (8' by 17')

Exhibition History:
Moraga Room Flag Label - Jan 2003
30-Star United States Flag
(ZFC0608)

Special Memorial Day Display
Suspended from ceiling of Moraga Room.
Presidio of San Francisco's Officers Club
Memorial Day 2003

Baltimore Star Spangled Banner Flag House 3/2004
(ZFC0608)
30-Star United States Flag

American Maritime Flags of the 19th Century

Presidential Debate
Washington University at St. Louis
October 2004
(ZFC0608)

Provenance:
• Acquired by Mr. & Mrs. Boleslaw & Marie-Louise d'Otrange Mastai, New York City, and Amagansett, NY, The Mastai Collection, until 2002.
• Sold via Sotheby's Auction in New York City to the Zaricor Flag Collection, 2002.



ZFC Significant Flag

Sources:


Madaus, Howard M.- Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict, VZ Publications, Santa Cruz, 2006.

Preble, George Henry, The History of the Flag of the United States of America, Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1894.

30 Star Flag - (1848-1851) (U.S.), Flags of the World, 14 November 2011, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-1848.html

Mastai, Boleslaw and Marie-Louise D'Otrange, The Stars and The Stripes: The American Flag as Art and as History from the Birth of the republic to the Present, Knopf, New York, 1973.

Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection